352 AUDIT: TO DETERMINE THE QUALITY OF INFORMED CONSENT IN PATIENTS ATTENDING FOR OGD, COLONOSCOPY AND FLEXIBLE SIGMOIDOSCOPY

M.J. Maida, J. Conibear, M.J. Dew. Gastroenterology Department, Prince Philip Hospital, Bryngwynmawr, Llanelli SA14 8QF, UK

An audit carried out last year examining the degree of informed consent in competent adults found that although the majority of patients understood what the procedure involved and had been interviewed by a health care professional, 34% had poor understanding of the benefits of the test and 75% had little or no idea of any associated risks¹. This audit determines whether modifications made to information to include risk sent to patients in the light of these findings led to an improvement in the level of understanding.

118 patients were interviewed. As last year, 97% were aware which investigation was to be performed and the region to be examined. 69%(63% last year) had received information prior to the procedure, with 80% acknowledging receipt of printed information. 99% of patients had spoken to a health care professional, a proportion similar to last year. Only 60% (88% last year) were deemed to have a good understanding of what was to occur during the test and 66% (90% last year) were aware of what was to happen after the procedure. 70% (34% last year) had poor understanding of the benefits of the test. 48%(25% last year) were aware of the risks.

Conclusion: Changing the literature produced an improvement in understanding of associated risks, however, only 30% of patients were aware of the benefits of the test, and less than half were clear on what would happen during and after the investigation. This may reflect inter-observer variation, although the question does arise whether a certain proportion of patients have the cognitive ability to grasp the information presented to them—it may be pertinent to explore this issue further. Asking patients to complete a checklist is one way of …